First Segment of South Sixth Street Construction in Brainerd Set to Open July 13th

By noon tomorrow, July 13th, Brainerd residents can finally see the completion of the first section of the South Sixth Street construction in downtown Brainerd. The summer-long project has caused many delays and has forced people to find alternate routes to their destinations. The segment between Willow Street and Joseph Street will be complete and open to local residents and businesses on July 13th.

This is only the first section so signed detours will remain in place while crews complete the Business Highway 371 reconstruction project, and motorists and residents can expect the following:

• Highway 371B/South Sixth Street remains closed from Willow Street to Oak Street. The signed detour directs motorists along Industrial Park Road, Crow Wing County Road 45/13^th Street SE and Oak Street.
• Expect periodic lane, access or sidewalk closures along the entire Highway 371B/South Sixth Street corridor between Highway 210/Washington Street and Joseph Street during the remainder of the project.
• Trucks should follow the signed detour directing commercial vehicles along Industrial Park Road/County Road 117/Thiesse Road, Highway 25 and Highway 210. The turning radiuses are narrow on the local street detour; commercial vehicles should use the truck route whenever possible.
• Access to businesses and residents will be maintained and open at all times. However, expect to find access changes and gravel surfaces when navigating through work areas.

The entire construction project is planned to be complete by mid-October, and once complete it will reconstruct and redesign the roadway, upgrade city underground utilities and infrastructure, improve pedestrian accessibility, upgrade signal systems and replace road signs throughout the corridor.

For more information about this project, including detour maps and traffic staging, visit www.mndot.gov/d3/brd/. For real-time travel information anywhere in Minnesota, visit www.511mn.org or dial 5-1-1.